As it stands now, after an account at a bank, insurance company, etc. has been dormant for five years, the state can collect those assets.

The assets are put in an account and earn interest for the state — while the state is supposed to actively work to return the money to the rightful owner.

You’ve probably seen the periodic advertisements urging folks to check the list — or the website: http://www.patreasury.gov/Unclaimed/Search.html — to see if they are owed any money. The average claim is reportedly about $1,200 — so it’s definitely worth looking.

Pennsylvania actually does a pretty good job of working to return those assets.

But a lot of that money is not going to be claimed. Still, state law says it will be held in perpetuity.

But what if the state were to shorten the dormancy period — as it did a few years ago?

That would result in an infusion of cash — perhaps an extra $150 million — that could be used to fill the huge budget hole the Corbett administration is forecasting next year to be about $1.4 billion.

No, $150 million wouldn’t solve that problem, but it would help.

Senate Democrats are proposing a three-year dormancy period — mirroring other states’ laws.

Is that long enough? Don’t many people put money in banks and not do anything with it for years?

Sure, that’s kind of what banks are for.

So, if the state goes this route — and it ought to consider doing so — it must enact stringent regulations requiring that institutions make extensive efforts to contact property owners before declaring it abandoned and turning it over to the state.

The state must also continue to do a diligent job of seeking out the rightful owners of abandoned property — a process that over the last decade reportedly saw about a 35 percent success rate.

Additionally, the state must assure a simple, relatively red-tape-free process for people to reclaim their property.

In other words, don’t create a reclamation process that’s so difficult that the “losers” really do become weepers.